Damion is a boy who is so beautiful that everybody falls in love with him. This, his greatest advantage in life, gradually turns into his heaviest burden and so as he reaches adulthood, Damion, in an act half wanton, half heroic, destroys what for most people - but not for him - has come to define his essence. - A classic tale of a young man seeking his destiny.

The following description by Alana Jelinek, author of Ohm's Law, is taken from the back cover of the original hardback edition:

"Sebastian Michael's novel, 'Angel', is a great achievement; beautifully written and thoroughly engaging.

At face value it is the story of a young man so beautiful that 'anyone who met him fell instantly in love with him'. His emergence from boyhood is described with an astonishing sympathy for the experience of adolescence. The author has a great gift for subtle and commanding characterisation, one result of which is our developing appreciation of the burden of beauty on the 'hero' of the tale and all who come into contact with him. Events are beautifully described with a perspicacity for place and sensation.

On another level, 'Angel' can be read as an allegory of a society concerned largely with the superficial. Here value is determined by Beauty and the consequence of a great surfeit in power created by fundamental inequalities between people is explored in the trajectories of human lives. 'Angel' raises questions of responsibility and agency, as those privileged by society try to claim some responsibility for what appears to be pre-determined lives. We are asked to consider to what extent we can be responsible for the impact of our existence.

'Angel' is compelling and curious, an intelligent inquiry and a sensual pleasure. Its characters and their experiences feel immediately real and they also resonate over time remaining with the reader: so true is the author's ability with narrative and character. With 'Angel', Sebastian Michael has produced a novel that is a pleasure to read, that has depth and detail, and that raises some of the important questions for the contemporary moment. The ultimate meaning of 'Angel' will be a subject of debate between readers, as is inevitable with a novel that works so well on many levels."

Thank you to everyone who has already downloaded Angel. Although it went live on Kindle back in February, I only started introducing it to the e-reader community a bit over a week ago and it is tremendously encouraging to see a pick-up so quickly. I really appreciate your support for this book!

I wish you all good wishes with the book , but sadly Stephen Fry's praise wouldn't make me want to immediately grab it......

Sorry.

No need to apologise! I'm sure that neither he nor my book are everybody's cup of tea. But as a match for an endorsement I couldn't be happier about it: I do admire and respect the man enormously and it's fair to say that chances are good anyone who does like and relate to him will also be able to like and relate to Angel.

(Also: I'm a practically unknown, first time author; I need all the help I can get, so if a quote like this comes along I'd be a most ardent fool not to employ it...)

heya JS - I'm so sorry, I've only just noticed your question (been away for a few days...) - there is a nicely made ePub and I didn't even realise I had to make it available especially for Kobo (I thought that Kobo was just a generic ePub reader), but thanks for the tip, I will look into this immediately and update as soon as I have any news!

Angel now also features on Authonomy - a great initiative by Harper Collins to give new writers a platform and readers access to emerging work. Here you can read the opening section (about a fifth of the book) for free and rate and comment:

Happy to report that Angel is now available on all major platforms (Amazon Kindle, Apple iBookstore, Barnes & Noble Nook and Kobo) and certainly the UK price seems to have aligned itself at £1.99 / £2.00 respectively. How exactly this expresses itself on the US and European sites I'm not sure, but it's good to know that no matter what reading device you use, you can now download Angel for less than a decent cappuccino...

If you are based in New York City, or happen to be there towards the end of October, my first feature film as a writer/director, The Hour of Living, is in the official selection of the NYC Independent Film Festival. The screening takes place on Saturday, 20th October, 11:30am at the Producers' Club, 358 west 44th street. Full details are at http://www.thehourofliving.com. And I'm hoping to be there myself, of course...